1. Technical Field
The present invention is related to a medical image display control apparatus, a medical image display control method, and a medical image display control program, that display both a functional image and a projected three dimensional image of a subject.
2. Background Art
Conventionally, the Bull's Eye display method is employed as a display method that indicates the functions of the heart (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-253753, for example). The bull's eye display method is a method that concentrically arranges and displays images that represent evaluations of the functions of a heart as planes sliced at constant intervals in a direction that traverses the major axis of an ellipse, when the heart is considered as an approximate ellipsoidal model. In the bull's eye display method, the functions of the sliced planes near one of the apexes of the major axis of the ellipsoidal model are placed close to the center of the concentric circles, and the functions of the sliced planes near the other of the apexes of the major axis of the ellipsoidal model are placed toward the exterior of the concentric circles.
This display method is used mainly with functional images as the targets of display. Functional images include those taken directly by myocardial scintigraphy (SPECT), and functional images obtained from the results of analyzing images taken by CT (Computed Tomography)/MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging).
Here, functional images displayed by the bull's eye display method represent evaluations of the functions of the heart, and do not accurately represent the morphology of the heart. Therefore, it is only possible to roughly understand what positions of the heart correspond to positions within the functional images.
Meanwhile, it has become possible to observe coronary arteries within projected three dimensional images which are reconstructed using three dimensional medical image data imaged by CT and the like. Not only is it possible to understand positions of the heart within projected three dimensional images, but it is also possible to observe blood vessels that influence functions of the heart in the case that functional deterioration of the heart occurs. However, because projected three dimensional images are images that represent the three dimensional form of subjects such as a heart, what part of the heart or the like is causing the functional deterioration cannot be understood merely by observing the projected three dimensional images.
Therefore, correlating and displaying the aforementioned functional images and projected three dimensional images has been considered. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-181041 discloses displaying projected three dimensional images, in which regions specified within functional images are colored differently.
In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-439917 discloses a method in which three dimensional morphological images and functional images are combined and displayed.